Healthy, Clear Skin From the Inside Out

I’ve never had flawless skin – it was always manageable but during a period of intense stress in my life cystic acne joined the party and each cyst wouldn’t leave for two to three weeks at a time. In my case, the cysts were a response to inflammation due to stress – for you it may be hormonal imbalances or food intolerances. I started doing a lot of research into how to combat these guys from the inside out because topicals and my Clarisonic just weren’t working.Here are some supplements / foods that I’ve recently researched and integrated into my diet on the daily. Paired with stress reduction these have improved my skin immensely:

-Flaxseed Oil or Fish Oil acts as an anti-inflammatory because of its Omega 3 content. I prefer flaxseed (because I don’t eat fish to begin with) and I like Barlean’s brand. You can take it by the spoonful or mix it into a smoothie or juice.

-Zinc: You can either buy a supplement or you can get the proper amount by eating a handful / handful and a half of raw cashews each day. Zinc helps because it plays a role in skin cell rejuvenation.

-Magnesium: Again you can either buy a supplement or you can get the proper amount by eating a serving or two of cacao nibs each day. Cacao is considered a superfood (meaning it’s antioxidant level is crazy high) and it’s where chocolate is originally derived from. The nibs taste somewhat bitter and crunchy and nothing like chocolate, unfortunately. Magnesium is good for fighting skin infections.

I don’t have any before pictures because I avoided the camera like the plague when my skin was bad but here is an “after”, makeupless, filterless picture.

Makeup Free

I’m going to be writing more about this topic so please let me know (in the comments below) if you have any “inside out” beauty aids that you’d like to share!